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This page deals with baroque sculptures following the same pattern: they are funeral monuments, usually on the side walls of chapels and they show the dead in the act of praying behind a kneeling-stool.Here below a famous example of these sculptures in Cappella Cornaro in S. Maria della Vittoria, where Gian Lorenzo Bernini portrayed the members of the Cornaro family.
Cappella Cornaro in S. Maria della VittoriaBusts in the act of praying became quite common in the XVIIth century in many European countries. The change towards showing not much more than the bust of the dead, but behind a kneeling-stool (or just behind the top of it), was introduced by Alessando Algardi in his Monument to Cardinal Garcia Millini in S. Maria del Popolo.
Monument to Cardinal Garcia Millini (1638) by Alessandro Algardi in S. Maria del Popolo and Monument to Virginia Primi Bonanni (1648) by Giuliano Finelli in S. Caterina da Siena a MagnanapoliAlgardi did not sculpt the kneeling-stool, but in seeing the statue we get the impression that it is a full body statue of which we see only the upper part. The cardinal is shown with his prayer book and in the act of beating (gently) his breast. The idea suggested by this monument was immediately developed in a clearer way, usually by sculpting a cushion before the bust: you can see this in a monument by Giuliano Finelli in S. Caterina da Siena a Magnanapoli. Finelli who started his career with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, ended it by adhering to the recommendations of the Accademia di S. Luca for "classical" art. Gian Lorenzo Bernini made use of this kind of sculptures in designing Cappella Raimondi in S. Pietro in Montorio and Cappella Cornaro in S. Maria della Vittoria.
Monument to Gabriele Fonseca (1661) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in S. Lorenzo in Lucina, Monument to Johannes Savenier (1638) by Alessandro Algardi and Monument to Gualtiero Gualteri de Castro (1659) by Ercole Ferrata in S. Maria dell'AnimaBernini sculpted personally the Monument to Gabriele Fonseca, a wealthy Portuguese doctor, in S. Lorenzo in Lucina. It is a portrait full of life, typical of Bernini's sculpture. In the church of S. Maria dell'Anima we can compare a work by Alessandro Algardi, the leader of the classical school, with a work by Ercole Ferrata, one of Bernini's best scholars. The intense devotion of the young man, represented in a very classical way, (left/Algardi) makes somewhat melodramatic the attitude of the cardinal (right/Ferrata).In some monuments in large chapels or in the naves of the church we see a full body sculpture or to be more precise a full body high relief. The monument to Cardinal Pimentel in S. Maria sopra Minerva was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and executed by his scholars. This position of the dead will show up again in Bernini's Monument to Alexander VII.
Monument (left) to Cardinal Domenico Pimentel (1654) sculpted by Ercole Ferrata and designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in S. Maria sopra Minerva; Monument (middle) to Cardinal Marzio Ginetti (1675) by Antonio Raggi in S. Andrea della Valle and Monument (right) to Archbishop Carlo di Montecatini (1699) by Domenico Guidi in S. Maria in AquiroAs in many other cases the themes and ideas suggested by Bernini were used by other architects and sculptors. Carlo Fontana designed the Ginetti Chapel in S. Andrea della Valle and he asked Antonio Raggi, a scholar of Bernini, to portray Cardinal Ginetti in a position very similar to that of Cardinal Pimentel. Domenico Guidi is one of the few sculptors of the XVIIth century who did not work for Bernini. He was the preferred pupil of Alessandro Algardi and at his death he inherited his "customers". For many years he had a very busy workshop as he offered his services at a very competitive price. A monument by him can be seen in S. Maria in Aquiro.In the church of Gesù eMaria the funeral monuments of the family Bolognetti are in the nave. Giorgio Bolognetti, bishop of Rieti, had contributed to such an extent to the cost of the decoration of the church that he was allowed to erect the funeral monuments for his family in the nave: for this reason the church was also called il Cappellone (the large chapel).
Monument to Ercole e Giovan Luigi Bolognetti (1686) by Lorenzo Ottoni in Chiesa di Gesù e MariaThe distance from the altar, however, impacts on the effect of the monuments and the relatives of Monsignor Bolognetti, seem more involved in social talks between themselves, than intent on praying. The monument is by Lorenzo Ottoni a scholar of Ercole Ferrata, whose works can be found in many towns of the papal state. In general he showed strict links with Bernini's school, but he was also influenced by the growing relevance of French artists and more in general of France on Roman society, as we can see in another monument in the little church of S. Maria in Publicolis.
Monument to Marquis Antonio Publicola Santacroce and his wife Girolama Nari (1709) by Lorenzo Ottoni in S. Maria in PublicolisThe church was a sort of family chapel of Marquis Santacroce, who lived nearby. As we can see he dressed in the French way and wore a wig. While the marchioness is portrayed in a very stiff attitude, the marquis beats his breast like the cardinals of Algardi and Ferrata.The XVIIIth century was a very disenchanted time, even in Rome. Acts of contrition were no longer popular and the rich were more interested in minuets. This showed up also in funeral monuments.Monuments to Giovanni Andrea Giuseppe Muti and Maria Colomba Vincentini Muti (1725) by Bernardino Cametti in S. MarcelloGiovanni Andrea Muti and his wife had a palace nearSS. Venanzio e Ansovino, but they preferred to buy a chapel in the more fashionable church ofS. Marcello al Corso. The monuments designed for the Muti by Bernardini Cametti are formally very similar to those built in the XVIIth century, but the spirit is different. The viewer has the impression that the husband is inviting his coy wife to dance. In general the Baroque period in Rome is considered ended by 1750, so Paolo Posi who worked in Rome mainly after 1750 is not mentioned in many books and essays about Baroque Rome: he designed however some funeral monuments which for the use of color and different materials belong to the baroque tradition: in particular his monument to Maria Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi in 1771 can be regarded as the last baroque tomb in Rome.
Monument to Cardinal Pier Luigi Carafa (1759) by Paolo Posi and Pietro Bracci in S. Andrea delle FrattePaolo Posi was not a sculptor, but rather a particular kind of architect in the sense that he designed ephemeral architectures for celebrations. The monument to Cardinal Carafa in S. Andrea delle Fratte was designed by him but the statue of the cardinal was sculpted by Pietro Bracci. Other pages dealing with Baroque sculpture:Monuments showing the dead in a medallionRepresentation of Death in Baroque sculpturesBaroque AngelsThree chapels by Gian Lorenzo BerniniThree busts by Alessandro AlgardiBaroque Monuments to the PopesBaroque High ReliefsStatues Close to HeavenEmbittered Andrew (the statues in St. Peter's octagon)Laughing MasksPlaying with Colours

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ADAM, Nicolas-Sébastien(b. 1705, Nancy, d. 1778, Paris)BiographyFrench sculptor belonging to a family of sculptors. Originally from Lorraine, the earliest known members of the family to be involved with the arts were Sigisbert Adam, a sculptor, and Lambert Adam, a metal-founder (both active late 17th century). Lambert’s son Jacob-Sigisbert Adam spent most of his working life in Nancy, where he undertook the early training of his sons Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700-1759), Nicolas-Sébastien Adam (1705-1778), and François-Gaspard-Balthazar Adam (1710-1761). His daughter Anne married Thomas Michel (d. before 1751), a sculptor from Metz; among their children were the sculptors Sigisbert-François Michel (1727-after 1785) and Claude Michel (known as Clodion). The three Adam brothers went to Rome at the start of their careers, Lambert-Sigisbert and Nicolas-Sébastien returning to France to work on the outdoor sculpture at Versailles, among other projects, and François-Gaspard-Balthazar going on to Sanssouci, Potsdam.He was trained by his father and then joined his eldest brother Lambert-Sigisbert in Paris. Failing to win the Prix de Rome, he travelled to Italy at his own expense, working on the way in the Château de La Mosson, near Montpellier, and arriving in Rome in 1726. There he was introduced by Lambert-Sigisbert to Cardinal Melchior de Polignac, for whom he restored a number of antique marbles.He returned to Paris in 1734 and pursued what was to be a busy career. Although he was not received as a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris until 1762, his reception piece, a marble statue of Prometheus (Paris, Louvre), is one of the best of the century. He collaborated with Lambert-Sigisbert on the flamboyant lead group of the Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite for the Bassin de Neptune in the park at Versailles (1735-40) and also worked for the Rohan family at the Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, executing bas-reliefs of the Loves of the Gods (1736) in the Salon de la Princesse. He was employed by the Bâtiments du Roi at the Chambre des Comptes in Paris, at the abbey of St Denis and at Versailles, where he produced a bronze relief of the Martyrdom of Ste Victoire for the chapel (1747).However, Nicolas-Sébastien is remembered mainly for the monument of Queen Catharina Opalinska (1749) in the church of Notre Dame de Bon Secours in Nancy. This work is considered one of the finest and most genuinely pathetic French funerary monuments of the 18th century. The art of Nicolas-Sébastien, though equally influenced by the Roman Baroque and just as versatile and polished, is more delicate and subtle than that of Lambert-Sigisbert. It was to have a marked influence on the work of Clodion.

NALDINI, Giovan Battista(b. ca. 1537, Fiesole, d. 1591, Firenze)BiographyItalian painter and draughtsman. He was the artistic heir of Jacopo Pontormo, with whom he trained from 1549 to 1556. While maintaining an allegiance to the ideals of Andrea del Sarto and Pontormo, he also worked in the vocabularies of Bronzino and Vasari. From these sources he forged an individual style of drawing indebted to del Sarto in its loose handling of chalk and reminiscent of Pontormo in its schematic figures defined by firm contours and modelled with loose hatching or spots of wash. There are an analogous stylization and an expressive freedom in his treatment of serpentine figures, which are sculptural in form but painterly in detail, arranged in compact compositions with concentrated lights revealing passages of warm yellows, reds and greens. Particularly characteristic is the Christ Carrying the Cross (1566; Florence, S Maria Assunta), which is distinguished in its colouring and expressive figures from the chill linearity and metallic forms of Bronzino, Vasari and Alessandro Allori.

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DE CORTE, Josse(b. 1627, Ypres, d. 1679, Venezia)BiographyJosse de Corte (also Giusto Le Court or Lecourt) was a Flemish sculptor who worked in Padua (altar in S. Giustina) and in Venice as a collaborator to Longhena. He had many commissions in Venice for decorating the palaces and churches. He followed the High Baroque style of Bernini.